Universally Challenged
by CodtsQ
Summary: Ever wonder what would happen if you were randomly dropped into a story of Doctor Who, with all of your Doctor Who knowledge? Well, I have, and here it is. Includes Torchwood and Sarah Jane Adventures. Don't own anything, BBC does. ON HIATUS.
1. Prologue

**A/N: I had started this previously, but I decided to post it here. The fact that there is so much uploaded on the same day is a result of that, not of me uploading extremely quickly. In fact, I can be extremely slow at that. I'm not good with long stories normally, but I'm actually making an effort. Please at least try to be patient with me.**

**Also, I don't own anything involved in this story, except for the plot and the characters I make up.**

**Thank you and enjoy.**

* * *

**Prologue**

* * *

"Bye, Lauren. See you tomorrow!" someone shouts from inside the depths of the eighth grade hallway. Lauren doesn't seem to notice. In other cases, she would have turned around immediately, to see who it was, and possibly respond. Today was not an ordinary day. Lauren wanted to get home as fast as possible, because she was hoping the something extraordinary would be on the Official Doctor Who website today, though she doubted it. _There's never anything major_, thought Lauren, _only videos, and maybe a few stories here and there_.

Exiting the school building was always a challenge because there were always so many people waiting for a bus, or to be picked up. Lauren only had to walk about six blocks to get to her house, so she just weaved in and out of the crowd until she came to an open area to walk through. She walked on the grass, because the sidewalks were crowded, though not nearly as bad as the school. Looking around her, she saw what she saw everyday on her way home. The school, people, cars, buses, but today, there was something different. _Nothing is ever different_, Lauren mused. _This school never changes._

Deciding to explore, Lauren walked slowly towards what she believed to be a large piece of plastic strung up to the building, and connecting to a nearby tree. It looked as though it was swaying in the wind, but she soon realized that wasn't what it was. She walked closer, cautiously, and touched it. Her hand went partially through it, and she yanked her hand back as fast as she could. "What was that?" she asked to no one in particular. Thinking it was safe, since her hand was still in one piece, Lauren slowly and timidly walked through whatever it was.

Emerging on the other side, completely unharmed, she peered around to take in her new surroundings. _I must be going mad_, she thought,_ nothing's changed._ The same school, people, cars, buses, everything! Lauren slowly turned around and put her hand out again. Nothing happened. She walked back in the direction she had just come from, but whatever it was, if it was ever there, was gone. "Oh, great. I am crazy," Lauren murmured to herself as she continued her walk back to her house.

"Dad, I'm home," Lauren announced as she walk threw her front door. She tossed her backpack aside and went straight to her room. As she opened her bedroom door, the usual gust of cold air hit her. Her room was always colder than the rest of the house. She then picked up her laptop and sat comfortably on her bed before opening it. Lauren then typed in her password and the laptop screen changed from a bland, blue background to a complicated and colorful design.

Opening Google Chrome, she typed in the web address for the site that she most wanted to see. She was expecting to see the homepage with the Doctor's picture in the middle of it, as usual, but her computer could apparently not find the website. Lauren checked the website she had typed in thoroughly, just in case she had typed something wrong. She hadn't. Her gaze then shifted to the icon at the bottom of her screen that showed if she was connected to the internet or not. She was.

Confused, Lauren went to Google and typed in "Doctor Who". All she got in response were some completely unrelated links. _Unreal_, she thought. _How does it not exist?_ Lauren then checked her "Favorites" in hopes of finding something to do with the Doctor, as there should be. Nothing. "No way!" she exclaimed, angry at her computer for not knowing what Doctor Who is.

Lauren then burst out of her room, pulling her jacket on. As she reached her parents' bedroom, she asked, "Hey Dad, do you know a show called Doctor Who?"

"No. Should I?" her father merely responded.

"No, never mind. I'm going out," she said quickly and walked out of the house, almost slamming the door behind her.


	2. Chapter 1: Realization

**Chapter 1: Realization**

"Not possible!" Lauren repeated to herself over and over. "I couldn't have just made the whole thing up in my head. Could I?" She was talking in a hushed tone, hoping people passing by on her walk couldn't hear her. The wind brushed past her, and her dark brown hair blew by the side of her face, and come to rest on her cheek. She brushed it back in place as she rounded a corner.

Lauren was deep in thought, trying to process what was happening, and having little success. She picked up her pace slightly, as she saw a stone bridge that was very much past its days of usage. Under the long bridge was concrete and because the bridge went on for so long, the hole at the end, that you are supposed to exit through, was much smaller than the one at the entrance. As Lauren went below the bridge, she sat against a wall, to find some privacy and peace.

In the wideness of the tunnel, there was silence. Lauren had not yet looked around, at her surroundings. As she did, she saw something near the end of the tunnel at the other end. It was blue, and tall. "Oh, come on!" Lauren exclaimed as she got up. She began to sprint over to the box, her feet hitting the pavement, causing multiple echoes throughout the tunnel. As she got closer to the box, her pace slowed and she stared at it. "Seriously?" she asked, to no one in particular.

Near the top of the box, in glowing letters, were the words "Police Box". An idea that had originally formed in her subconscious seemed to be presenting itself, and was becoming believable. _I'm in a different universe_, Lauren thought. _Holy crap._ Thinking it was worth a try, Lauren walked up to the box and knocked on its doors. Though there was no response to her pounding, Lauren was determined. She decided to sit in against the wall it was facing and wait.

As she looked at her watch, yet again, she saw that it had almost been two hours. She was getting extremely bored, but refused to leave until she had solved this mystery. _Think,_ she told herself. _What do I know? I know that I'm most likely in another universe, where Doctor Who isn't a television show, but a fact. I know that the TARDIS is right in front of me, or what I'm presuming is the TARDIS. That's about it._ "Dang it," she commented out loud, exasperated at the fact that she had no real idea about what was happening.

Suddenly, Lauren heard echoing footsteps near the entrance at the other end of the bridge. She turned to see a man with wild, brown hair, a blue suit, and a long jacket on running towards her. She heard some form of growling not far behind him, and stood up. "No, way," she whispered to herself, as the man ran past her. She doubted he would truly pay attention to her unless she said something to him.

The man pulled out a key from his pocket, and shoved it into the lock on the Police Box. He shoved the door open, revealing, only for a moment, the spacious inside of the TARDIS. "I knew it!" Lauren exclaimed as the man slammed the door behind him. _I'm not letting you get away that easily_, she thought, and knocked on the door once more.

The door quickly swung open and the man popped his head out saying, "I'm kind of busy at the moment, so could this wait?" He didn't even wait for a response before pulling his head back in. Lauren barely stopped the door from closing, and stared him straight in the eye.

"No, this can't wait, Doctor. I know who you are and I know what's in there, so could you please let me in before," Lauren paused as another growl came from a distance, closer now, "whatever you were running from gets here?" The Doctor looked shocked for a few moments before coming back to his senses. He stared her down for another moment before opening the door slightly, and letting her in. He then turned and ran towards the controls of the TARDIS. "Thanks," Lauren said, as she closed the door behind her.

"You're welcome," the Doctor responded blandly, busy with whatever was following him, and suspicious of Lauren. "And you are?" he said, only glancing at her for a moment before returning to what he was doing.

"I'm Lauren," Lauren responds confidently. _What would he do if he knew where I'm from?_ Lauren pondered. _He'd probably try to send me back._ She sighed heavily, and sat down, her back to a railing. For the first time, she took a moment to really look around. _Looks exactly the same_, she thought. _Only, in 3-D._ As Lauren silently marveled at the interior of the TARDIS, the Doctor finished whatever he was doing in silence, and stared at her for a while.

When Lauren noticed the Doctor's stare, she asked, "What? "

"Oh, nothing," he replied and looked away. As he busied himself with a random task to avoid further conversation, Lauren remembered that with his 3-D glasses, the Doctor could see what he called "void stuff". She then hoped that he did not put those on before she had time to explore. _I'm going to find Torchwood. And Sarah Jane's house. I've always wanted to meet K-9 and Mr. Smith. _

"Could you drop me off in Cardiff? If you don't mind," Lauren casually asked. The Doctor stared at her once more, wondering how she knew about _his_ TARDIS.

"You want me to drop you off in Cardiff? Just like that?" he asked, thinking it was slightly odd, since all of the other Humans that had entered his ship had wanted to go somewhere wild and new.

"Yeah. Is that bad? And why do you keep staring at me like that?" Lauren responded, wondering what he was thinking about, in that complicated brain of his.

"No it's not bad. Just odd," he states matter-of-factly. "How do you know about me, and the TARDIS? How much _do_ you know?"

"That… is complicated," Lauren says, thinking about what to say, and what _not_ to say. "I can't tell you yet, because then you'd ruin all of my fun."

"That sounds somewhat suspicious, and maybe contains a hint of evil," the Doctor replied, assuming that she was an alien with an alternative motive, like most always did. Lauren seemed surprised by this accusation, but her shock soon turned into a smile.

"Suspicious, maybe. Evil, not a chance," she answered, his accusation seeming to barely have affected her. Still smiling slightly, Lauren continued, "So, Cardiff?" The Doctor didn't seem willing to let the conversation go, but he accepted that Lauren was not going to continue.

"Very well. I suggest you hang on, the ride can be a little bumpy," the Doctor said, as he began running around the circular controls of the TARDIS, and using them in various ways.

"A little? Doctor, you need to get your adjectives correct. I believe the correct phrase would be 'a lot'." The Doctor smiled at this, and Lauren did in return.

"Allons-y!" announced the Doctor, as he adjusted the final control and flipped a switch. The sounds of the TARDIS could then be heard, getting louder, as it began to shake violently. The sound began to recede, and, with a final jolt, the Doctor and Lauren fell onto the floor of the TARDIS, and began to laugh. That TARDIS had arrived at its destination, and Lauren got up.

"Thanks for the ride," Lauren said, about to leave, as the Doctor stood up.

"Before you go," the Doctor added, stopping Lauren effectively, "Would you mind telling me what's in Cardiff?"

"Of course," Lauren replied, and smiled widely, "Torchwood. I'm here for Torchwood." Just as she finished her sentence, Lauren was bolting towards the TARDIS door. She managed to squeeze out just before they closed. _I thought he might try something like that_, Lauren announced to herself. She then turned around just in time to see the Doctor swing the door open and run out full speed. He was expecting her to run off. "I only wanted to avoid being locked in, you know," Lauren said from behind the Doctor, and he whizzed around to see her. "I wasn't going to run off or anything."

Looking confused, the Doctor responded, "I knew that! I was just… checking." Lauren laughed, but the Doctor just stood, still and silent. He was trying to decide many things about her, _Could he trust her? Where was she from? How did she know about him and the TARDIS? Why did she want to go to Torchwood? So many questions and so few answers._

"You can't come," Lauren stated forcefully.

"Why not?" the Doctor whined, trying to sound immature.

"Because," Lauren cut herself off, remembering that he might not know about Captain Jack and Torchwood yet. She sighed.

"What?" the Doctor questioned, now thoroughly confused.

"Ugh. Doctor, this may sound kind of strange, but who is your current," Lauren paused, trying to think of the appropriate term, "companion?"

"You mean the person who's traveling with me at the moment? Well, you I suppose. Martha was, but after that whole…" he trailed off, but she knew how the sentence was most likely going to end.

"Got it. Just checking. Didn't want to screw up your timeline and all that," Lauren said, thinking that she probably should have phrased that better.

"What do you mean?" the Doctor asked, genuinely and utterly baffled as to what she was talking about. Lauren smiled, not quite knowing what to say. There was almost no way to tell him the truth without revealing where she was from, and if she did that, he might force her back before she got to talk to all of the people she wanted to talk to.

"It's still complicated, but I know certain and very limited things about your future," Lauren sighed again. "Don't ask me to explain, because I can't. Well, I can, but not now. Besides, I want to go see Captain Jack." Lauren smiled widely, and the Doctor's eyes widened at the mention of his friend's name. _Can you really call them friends?_ Lauren thought. _I guess so._ "I hope to see you again, Doctor, so don't disappear forever when you go back in there," Lauren says, gesturing towards the TARDIS. "Okay?"

"Yeah, okay," the Doctor responds, "You still have to give me an explanation, and I'm not going to leave without it." He smiles widely and vanishes into the TARDIS, which then departs in its usual gush of noise.

After searching for an hour, not really knowing where it was, Lauren had finally located the building which Torchwood was located near and/or under. She knew that there was an entrance that was concealed by some form of technology. Lauren could not remember what the technology was called, nor could she remember exactly where it was. _It's around here, somewhere,_ she thought. _I hope I don't fall in._ After that thought, Lauren walked around much more cautiously.

She knew that the whole Torchwood team was probably gathered around their computer screen, watching her. Lauren was almost certain that she had found the location of the cement block on the sidewalk that lowers into the Torchwood base, because it wiggled loosely, while all others were cemented in. She then sat down directly on top of it, thinking that they would have to use it eventually, and when that time came, she would be sitting on it.

"Who is she?" a tall, handsome man nearly shouted. "And what is she doing there?"

"Don't know, Jack. She's not in the database," replied the Japanese woman sitting in front of many computer screens, and typing quickly.

"How can she not be in the database, Tosh? It was my understanding that we had everyone's face in this thing," another woman, with dark hair, responded.

"It could be that she's an alien," stated the dark haired man in a suit. Just then, another man came up from a lower level room, somewhat resembling a room of surgery.

"Oh, that's creative, Ianto," mocked the man in a t-shirt and jeans.

"Shut up, Owen," Jack said as he waved the man off. "Let's focus on that girl. What _other_ reasons could there be for her not showing up in the database?" Everyone was silent. No one knew another viable reason. Suddenly the girl stood up, but kept her place on the 'invisible list'.

"Hey, you in there," the girl nearly screamed, "I know what's in there. No, really, I actually do. Alien tech, a pterodactyl, a few Weevils, and about," she pauses to think, "five people? Yeah, five people. So, could you just let me in already? It's boring out here."

The entire staff of Torchwood was silent. Eyes bulged and jaws dropped throughout the group, but they all soon regained their composure. They all turned to Jack for instructions, but he said nothing. He just stared at the screen where they could see her standing there. "I think we should let her in," stated the dark haired woman, voicing her opinion. "I mean, she obviously already knows about us and this place. What harm could it really do?"

"True," Tosh added, "but what if it's a trap or something?"

"Yeah, because she'd willingly come in here, with us and all of our alien weapons and whatnot, just to trap _us_," Owen added sarcastically. "I'm with Gwen on this one."

"Both valid arguments," Ianto adds, secretly not getting involved in this squabble. "What do you think, Jack?"

"I think she shouldn't know about us, and since she does, we should let her in," he responds with a sigh. "I wonder how much she knows…"


	3. Chapter 2: Descent

**Chapter 2: Descent**

Lauren had been waiting for about five minutes when the lift she was on started to shake. It began to lower into the Torchwood base, more slowly than she would have preferred. Yet, she stood still, crossing her arms over her chest. As soon as the lift had reached a level at which she could see the inside of the hub, she glanced around. _It's exactly the same_, she thought. _I didn't think it'd be _exactly _the same._

As the lift slowly lowered to the bottom of the base, Lauren nearly jumped off, and looked around again. "Not bad, but I'm still a little concerned about the whole 'people falling through' thing," Lauren stated as she waved her hand in the direction of the lift. Just then, Lauren noticed Gwen and Owen, both holding up guns. "Oh," Lauren said, dropping one hand down at her side, and scratching her head with the other. "Didn't expect that. Probably should've, but didn't."

"Who are you?" Jack questioned loudly, as Lauren dropped her other hand to her side.

"I'm Lauren, and I already know who you are, so no more introductions needed then?" she said with a smugness that she noticed, and tried to reduce. Lauren then leaned forward slightly, inspecting the team, and asked, "You think I'm an alien, don't you? That would explain the guns. 'Cause if you knew I was Human, you most likely wouldn't be pointing guns at me."

Jack waved his hand at Owen and Gwen, and they lowered their guns. They were all still quite suspicious. _At least the immediate threat of getting shot is gone_, Lauren thought. "Okay," Jack started. "Now tell me how much you know about us."

"Well," Lauren responded slowly, "I can't tell you _everything_. Partly because I'm not sure it's correct and partly because…" she trailed off.

"Because what?" Owen close to shouted from behind Jack.

"Because some of what I know," she paused, "is from your future. Anyways, I know what you do, who you are, and that's about it. I also know some minor details, but I don't think those matter much." The group looked pretty skeptical of the 'knowing the future' bit, but they seemed to believe her.

"And you know all of this how?" Gwen quietly asked.

"You see, that's the complicated part," Lauren started.

"And why might that be?" Jack asked in an expectant tone.

"Well… It's because I basically just had the same conversation with the Doctor a while ago, after he gave me a ride to Cardiff, and I didn't tell him either. Now, he's going to come back for me at some point, and I don't want you telling him, because then he'd try to send me back. And I don't want to go back. Not yet," Lauren finished and looked around at the group. Everyone seemed half confused and half shocked, except Jack. Jack seemed 99 percent shocked and one percent confused, most likely because of the mention of the Doctor.

"Back where?" Ianto asked, forcing the question out.

"See, this is really the part where you'll most likely not believe me. At first. My universe. I don't want to go back to my universe. It's extremely boring there, and here is interesting. Besides, there's still one person I want to meet."

"Okay. One: How do you know for sure that you're in a different universe? Two: What does that have to do with you knowing about us? Three: How did you get here? And four: Who's the one person you still want to meet?" Jack replied quizzically.

Lauren sighed, and then responded, "Very well. I know for sure because things are not the way they're supposed to be. Everything is a little off. The knowing about you part is very long winded. I got here through a type of portal thing; I'm not even sure what really happened. Finally, I want to meet Sarah Jane."

There is a long pause. "Fine. For now," Jack answers bluntly and walks away. The rest of the group glances at him, then to Lauren, and back to Jack, unsure of what to do. Jack then spins on his heels and adds, "You can let her roam around. It's not like she can hurt anything." With that, Lauren began to walk around the large hub, and got a closer look at the computer screens, at which she knew Tosh worked.

"A bit smaller than I expected, to tell you the truth," Lauren states, as she gazes up at the ceiling. The group, minus Jack, are basically staring at Lauren, making her uneasy. "Could you stop staring at me?" Lauren asks in her nicest tone.

"Oh. Yeah, sorry," Gwen replied quickly. After she and Owen tucked their guns away, all four of them separated. They dispersed throughout the room in positions where they could all watch Lauren, but they thought she wouldn't notice. She did. Lauren put her hand to her face and tried to think of what to do, as the Torchwood group busied themselves with menial tasks, while still watching her.

Lauren sighed. _What can I do? I mean, they just keep staring at me. What am I _supposed_ to do?_ She had never been in any situation close to this before, so she had no idea how to handle it. Lauren supposed that the calm, cool, and collected approach would be the best way to handle things. She took her hand away from her face and sat down, folding her arms over her chest once more.

After about five minutes of thinking in that position, Lauren saw Jack walking quickly towards her. She perked her head up, and dropped her arms to her sides. "Come on," Jack said, pulling her to her feet forcefully, "We need to talk." Gwen, Owen, and Tosh kept themselves busy, but with slightly shocked expressions. Ianto, on the other hand, stood perfectly still, with a blank expression on his face.

As Jack practically dragged her through the hub, Lauren glanced around, and noticed that they were most likely heading towards his office. She was right, of course, as she found out when he pulled her into his office and closed the door tightly behind him. Lauren, after she was done being pulled around, sat down in the chair opposite Jack's desk. She began to look around when he spoke.

"So, what really happened?" Jack asked, raising one eyebrow, and leaning back in his chair.

"What do you mean?" Lauren asked, truly confused.

"With the Doctor. I want details," Jack replied. _Almost _too_ calmly,_ thought Lauren.

"What details? He let me in, dropped me off, and left. What more is there to tell?"

"He wouldn't just let anyone inside the TARDIS. What'd you do to get in?" Jack asked, almost accusingly. He had leaned forward, and put his hands in the shape of a triangle in front of him, his elbows on his desk.

"I said basically the same things I said to get in here," Lauren stated, pausing to look around briefly. "I told him I knew who he was, and what was inside the 'police box', and he let me in."

"That's it?" Jack questioned, sounding unconvinced.

"Well, there was something chasing him, but I guessed he took care of that after he dropped me off," Lauren said, now slightly worried that he didn't.

Jack looked worried at this, and asked, "Did you see what was chasing him?"

"No," Lauren replied calmly, "all I saw was him running really fast, directly into the TARDIS, then heard a type of growl. I just suspected he was running away from it because he seemed worried."

"And you didn't think to mention this to the local alien hunters?" Jack pried, looking slightly amused at his own little joke.

Lauren gave him an odd look, and responded, "One, it happened in the U.S., so you weren't exactly within calling distance, and two, I already said I thought he took care of it." Jack leaned back in his chair and stared directly at Lauren. She didn't even flinch. After a few seconds, a large smile formed across Jack's face, and he reached out his hand. Lauren was confused because of his smile, for a short moment, but reached her hand out as well and shook his.

"Welcome to Torchwood," Jack said, and dropped Lauren's hand. As he got up and began to walk out of the room, Lauren was sitting still, in the chair, thinking. "You coming?" Jack asked, and he stood in the doorway, looking at her expectedly.

Lauren started as Jack broke her train of thought and said, "Yeah, sure. Be right there." She then stood up and walked under Jack's arm, which was on the door frame that he was bracing himself up against from the other side of the doorway.

Lauren glanced back at Jack, who was still standing in the doorway, and came to a conclusion in her mind. _Why not ask him,_ she thought. "Jack," she said and waited for him to look up.

"Yeah?" he asked, his head bobbing up, as he looked at her curiously.

"Can I see a Weevil?" she asked tentatively, but Jack could tell that she meant it.

"Um," Jack paused and looked at her questioningly, but she just shrugged, "I'll have to ask the others."

As Lauren walked back to the group, she noticed that Jack was walking at a pace that was far behind hers, and she wondered what he was doing. _Probably just watching,_ she thought. _And wondering why I want to see a Weevil._ Lauren continued to walk down, until she got to Torchwood's base level, where she carefully sat down, leaning against a brick wall.

Jack walked over to his little team, and got them into a type of huddle. Lauren laughed quietly at the site. Jack heard her, and asked over his shoulder, "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," Lauren replied as innocently as she could. From inside the quaint little circle the group had formed, Lauren could hear murmuring, and the occasional disagreement. She knew they were disagreements because whenever one occurred, there was a rise in the volume of their conversation, before Jack calmed everyone down again. Even with the raise in voices, she never heard anything coherent to help in deciphering what they were talking about, but she didn't need to decipher it. She already knew what they were discussing.

They eventually came to a conclusion, one which Owen and Ianto didn't seem happy about, though Owen was barely ever happy. The entire group appeared to have accepted Jack's suggestion, and were all now walking towards Lauren. It was a little intimidating, Lauren had to admit, at least in her own mind. With a pack of five adults walking towards her, and Jack smiling mischievously, she had the right to be a little nervous.

"You wanted to meet a Weevil?" Jack asked, more a statement than a question, as he stopped in front of her, and looked down expectantly.

Lauren looked up at him and answered, "Yep. Why was there so much arguing about something like that?" She stood up and began walking next to him, with the rest of the group right behind them, waiting for a response.

Jack smiled and said, "Well, the last person we showed a Weevil to fainted right then and there. We didn't want that happening again, so that was a factor. I guess the deciding point was that you seemed to already know what a Weevil is, and the fact that you asked." He then looked down at her.

"Yeah, I know what they look like and stuff, but I've never met one," Lauren replied, using hand gestures to explain herself. She then looked up at Jack and held his stare, until he looked away.

"So why did you want to see one in the first place?" Jack asked, the look on his face showing that he was trying to understand her thought process.

"I have a hunch," was all Lauren said as they approached the Weevils.

"And what would that hunch entail?" Jack asked suspiciously as they entered a room with holding cells and a few Weevils contained in them. Lauren didn't answer, though Jack could see she was deep in thought, and let it go.

_How am I supposed to do this?_ Lauren asked herself._ I'm not telepathic. At least, I don't think I am. Well, worth a try, though it might be a little weird with all of them hovering like that._ She looked around to see that they were standing in a sort of semi-circle around her, and waiting for her to do something. What they were expecting, she wasn't sure.

Lauren shrugged them off and turned her attention to the closest Weevil. She briefly wondered if this was the one Jack called Janet. After a moment of thought, she decided it didn't really matter. Lauren walked slowly towards the cell and when the Weevil saw her, she half expected it to lunge at her, like it did with the others. The Weevil didn't lunge at the wall of it's cell, but, instead, it crept slowly closer to it. Lauren did the same, and they were soon face to face, except for the wall, that is. She was grateful for the wall, because even with how this one was behaving, she didn't want to be that close to a Weevil without protection.

The wall wasn't glass, because if it were it would have broken long ago, with all of the creatures that have tried to smash it in the past. It was something stronger than that, and it reminded Lauren of plexiglass. Lauren risked a side-glance towards the group, and saw that they were all frozen in place, as if waiting for something horrible to happen. She flicked her vision back to the Weevil and met it's gaze, and saw that it was not as cruel as they portrayed it to be, not at this moment, at least. It's eyes were those of someone – or something – that had been contained for too long, and needed to have some running room, but Lauren knew that Torchwood would never agree to letting a Weevil run amok.

As she was looking into the Weevil's eyes, she saw a flicker of something come across it's face. It looked, to Lauren, like an expression of recognition, if only a brief one. A few seconds after Lauren saw the recognition cross the Weevil's face, it stepped a few feet back, almost cautiously. Lauren smiled slightly. It was a small smile, but one that would have communicated success, had anyone seen it. She lessoned the effect of her smile and turned to the group with only a slight grin left. The group stood perfectly still, and all but Owen and Tosh had one eyebrow raised, which made Lauren laugh inwardly.

"Knew it," was all Lauren said before turning back to the Weevil.


	4. Chapter 3: Communication

**Chapter 3: Communication**

"Knew what?" Jack demanded more than asked as he took a step closer to her. Lauren spun around and looked him in the eye. She arched an eyebrow and grinned slightly, causing a look of confusion to wash over Jack's face, if only for a moment.

"Well, I didn't know, I guessed," Lauren said, musing on that thought for a moment before noticing Jack again. "I guessed that because Weevils are time sensitive, they might pick up on the fact that I know and/or have been in your future, and I was right." She smiled triumphantly, but Jack did not look convinced.

"So, what are you going to do now? All you've accomplished is making a Weevil back down, which I'm not saying isn't a great accomplishment," Jack said, his face lightening slightly, from the hard emotionless one she had seen before, at his wit. With this, Lauren turned back to the Weevil, not answering. Jack stood for a moment, expecting an answer, then gave up when she did not provide one.

Lauren stared intently towards the Weevil, but put a kind look on her face, hoping it would be more susceptive that way. The Weevil cautiously came closer to the clear wall once again, but this time seemed almost frightened. _Okay,_ Lauren thought._ How am I going to do this? Just think it? I guess I'll try._ At that, she closed her eyes and thought clearly in her head, blocking out everything else. _Slightly telepathic, eh? Well, if my hunch is correct, which I somehow doubt, you will actually respond, in some way, to this. _Lauren then realized that she was babbling with her thoughts and tried to amend them.

_I doubt you will understand this language, if you even get this in your head, but try. Please, try. I'm Lauren, and I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to learn. Learn what your species is truly called; what your name is. If that's possible, I—_Lauren was suddenly cut off by a very forceful blow to her mind, like someone was trying to force all the information in the universe into her head all at once. Her body reacted unexpectedly, though she should have expected it, and she was thrown back into the Torchwood team. She heard a few gasps from the people behind her, but didn't think much of them. Lauren landed, with a grunt, cleanly into Jack, who fell backwards with the unexpected force.

It took her a few seconds to get her composure, and to realize she was on top of Jack, but when she did she got up quickly saying, "Sorry," in a quiet tone. Jack grinned at first, seeing the embarrassment on her face, but then was aware of what had happened. She had been thrown across the corridor, with no explanation that he could presently think of. He pulled himself up, Ianto helping with his arm under Jack's and pulling up.

Jack quietly thanked Ianto, put a stern look on his face, and asked, "What was that?" Lauren, who had just finished brushing the dirt off of her clothes, glanced up and he saw her smile to herself. She had been tempted to answer, "That was me falling into you and hitting the floor," but thought it would be a waste of time.

"That was me, being correct, again," she stated proudly. "Though, this time I hadn't really expected anything to happen, but something obviously did." Lauren knew she was being vague, but she wanted to try again, and she thought Jack might try to stop her. Noticing his confused expression, but not wanting to explain further, she turned back to the Weevil, who was looking at her expectantly. As she began to concentrate once again on the Weevil, Jack grabbed her shoulder and quickly, but gently, spun her around to face him.

"Oh, no, you don't. Not until I get an explanation," Jack said, giving her a look of slight confusion mixed with determination. Lauren sighed. She knew she had to explain, but how? And how was she going to tell him that her random guess had been correct, and not have him accuse her of something.

Lauren sighed again, then responded, "I had a random thought, that because the Weevils were slightly telepathic, and that I was from another universe," she paused, searching for the right words, "that I might have, in some way, brainwaves that are closer to theirs than yours are. Like I said, it was a completely random guess, and even I doubted it would work. And yet, it worked. What happened was the Weevil tried to force all of it's knowledge into my head at once, and it obviously didn't work well. I want to try again, but tell it to go slower this time."

Jack looked bewildered, along with the rest of the group Lauren observed, as she glanced over his shoulder. She knew it wasn't a good idea to tell them, but she had, so there was no going back now. It wasn't like she had a choice anyway. He wouldn't have let her down here again until she told him, so she thought it was best to get it out of the way quickly.

"Well?" Lauren asked impatiently. She had her arms crossed over her chest when Jack shook his head to get rid of the shock.

"Uh," Jack said, not completely there yet, "Yeah, go ahead. _If _you tell us everything you learn from her," Jack finished, now back to normal with another emotionless mask on.

Lauren nodded and turned back to the Weevil. She began to concentrate, just like before, blocking everything else out. Once she was close to communicating, she prepared herself for another rush of information by planting her feet, just in case the Weevil didn't listen. She then carefully spoke to it, first telling it to go slowly, then asking questions. _Who are you?_ She asked in her mind._ What is your species called? Where are you from? How did you get here?_ There was another forceful blow to her mind, though it was less violent than the first.

Lauren winced before continuing to speak in her head. _Slower, please. Slower._ A steady flow was then created between the two minds. _Thank you,_ Lauren thought carefully._ Will you answer my questions now?_ Outside of her mind, she could feel the Weevil's presence directly in front of, seemingly no longer afraid. The Weevil had it's eyes open in curiosity, and seemed not to have to concentrate at all to use it's telepathy. _A great accomplishment_, Lauren thought at first,_ though I did just start using mine today._

She suddenly felt something new, like a poke. _Hello?_ Lauren asked, wondering if it would ever answer.

_Hello,_ the Weevil replied in her mind. _To answer your questions, you would have to be of my kind, though I can tell you we got here by what you call "The Rift"._

_ What do you mean, I would have to be of your kind? _Lauren asked curiously.

_I mean that only my kind can speak our language. Have you not noticed that I have been speaking in yours?_

_ I guess not. Sorry,_ Lauren responded, a little shocked that she didn't notice it. _Though, I need to ask you: Why do you attack Humans? What is the reason? Is it for protection, or perhaps food?_

_ We attack Humans for food, yes, or when we feel threatened, which is quite often with all of the anger in your species, combined with the weapons you possess. There is not enough to eat where we live on your world, so we occasionally venture to the surface to find something_, Janet replied. Lauren was now calling the Weevil Janet anyways, because her true name was apparently unpronounceable.

_But why not attack other mammals that live in the woods, and are not sentient? There is already a kill or be killed system there, and there is plenty food as well, _Lauren retorted.

_We believe our current way of doing things is much safer. Do you not think we have tried? We are not cold blooded killers. We know what we do is not good, but it is instinct, and instinct is near impossible to fight. If we were to have the amount of food we need to control that instinct, we could most likely live peacefully with Humans, if they did not try to kill us first._

_ How much food do you need to fight off your instinct?_ Lauren quarried, truly wondering if Torchwood could provide the amount of food needed.

_To completely fight off the instinct, we would require the equivalent of three adult Human males, each, per day,_ she paused, sensing Lauren shock before she could voice it. _Perhaps two if we were only around Humans for 1 hour or less. Now do you see? I am not complaining as much as you would most likely expect me to, for these people feed me well, if not enough to drown out my instincts._

_Thank you for sharing so much with me,_ Lauren said, now feeling slightly uneasy and not knowing what to say, _but I feel it is time for me to go, as the others might be worrying. Goodbye._

_ Goodbye,_ Janet responded as Lauren receded from the link. In a few moments it was broken, and Lauren stumbled back a few steps, holding her head. Torchwood had been watching intently on the supposed conversation, so they had been unprepared for when Lauren took a few steps back while clutching her head. Gwen and Tosh moved to help her.

"I'm alright," Lauren said as she shook the sudden dizziness from her head and stood straight. The two women went up to her, nonetheless, and checked her over briefly. Seeing no true injuries, they saw no need to call Owen over to look at her. Lauren looked up at them and, seeing the concern in their eyes, said, "Thanks." She smiled brightly and turned to Jack once the women had returned smiles of their own. Jack's face was serious, so Lauren imitated him. She did not do it in a childish way; she did it to express that she knew this was a serious matter as well.

After she had finished explaining when she and the Weevil had discussed, - no, thought - the team decided not to change anything. Lauren knew it was for the best, because she didn't know where they could get all of the meat that they needed to keep so many Weevils happy forever.

Just as they had wrapped up the discussion, Ianto walks in. He is carrying a tray with five cups on it and the smell of coffee fills the air. The Torchwood team sighs in relief when he starts passing out the cups. Laure smirks at this, and watches them as they greedily take the cups and gulp down some of Ianto's renowned coffee. Only Tosh and Jack pause to thank Ianto, and he nods his appreciation. He then pulls out a chair and sits down, _with class_, thinks Lauren as her smirk grows into a grin.

As Ianto sips his coffee, he glances at Lauren and a look of slight guilt runs over his face. As if reading his mind, Lauren smiles again and waves it away, as if to say, "It's okay, I don't drink it anyways." With that, Ianto seems to relax a little and, with a smile tugging at his lips, settles back into his chair.

Lauren glances around the room and sees everyone leaning back in their chairs and enjoying their apparently delicious coffee. As she looks at Jack, Lauren is lucky enough to catch the wink and smirk he throws at Ianto. Lauren then smiles and looks at Ianto knowingly. She can see him blush slightly when he realizes she knows. When Ianto breaks eye contact with her, she sees him quickly glare at Jack before standing up and saying, "Who wants more coffee?"

"Me!" Gwen and Tosh say at the same time, and very enthusiastically.

"Yep," Owen says as he gulps down the last of his coffee.

"Thank you, Ianto, that would be lovely," Jack replies, his voice a slightly deeper than usual, and it seems that only Ianto and Lauren notice. Ianto looks at Lauren over his shoulder, and he sees that she noticed the change in Jack's voice. He blushes again, which Lauren thinks is very cute, and walks away, towards the coffee machine and mugs.

Jack would have told the rest of the team to go home, coming up with some excuse for Ianto to stay, of course, but Lauren was here now. He felt a little annoyance build up, but fought it down when he realized it wasn't her fault he was angsty. Though, he always was, so shouldn't she know that, as she claims to?

As if responding to Jack's thoughts, Lauren turns her head towards him and gives him the same knowing look she gave Ianto. Lauren is slightly saddened by the look of confusion on Jack's face when she silently nods towards the door. She thought he would understand. Lauren glances around at the team, and sees that Gwen and Tosh are busy with some girl talk, and Owen is trying to give the impression that he isn't listening in, and failing.

Satisfied that no one is watching, she looks back at Jack and motions towards the door again, then looks straight to where she was trying to get him to go. Jack follows her gaze and it comes to rest on the wall of the kitchen area. Realization dawns on him and he looks at Lauren with surprise. Lauren turns back to Jack, she smiles at the look on his face, and again nods towards the door.

Jack flashes her a wicked grin before standing up, trying not to show his giddiness, and walks out of the room. As he steps through the doorway, he nods his head silently in thanks, smiles again, and is gone. Watching Jack speed up his pace when he nears the bottom of the steps, and quickly walk over and around the kitchen wall, Lauren smiled widely. Now all she had to do was make sure this group didn't go into the kitchen for at least 10 minutes.


	5. Chapter 4: Surprise

**Chapter 4: Surprise**

It wasn't extremely hard keeping the team in the conference room, because they had themselves pretty entertained, and didn't want to move, in fear that their coffee would be misplaced if they did. When Jack came back into the conference room, with a fresh coffee in hand, he is surprised to see the group still sitting there, just chatting away. Ianto follows shortly after, looking slightly flushed, carrying coffees. Lauren is surprised and amused that the team doesn't notice this when they accept more coffee. They all thank Ianto for the coffee before, one by one, they file out of the room and to their desks.

Lauren glances over to Ianto, who blushes through his already pink skin, and then to Jack. The smile on Jack's face is remarkably wide, and Lauren has no choice but to grin in response. Luckily, she tones the smile down a few notches before Jack glances at her. Her knowing glance returns as she leans back into her chair, and Jack has no choice but to keep smiling. He is silently amazed at the fact that Lauren is one of the few people in this century, on this planet, that doesn't seem to be completely embarrassed with the concept of sex.

Suddenly the Rift alarm flares to life, sounding throughout the Hub. Jack and Ianto both jump to their feet at the sound, and begin a hasty descent from the conference room. Jack quickly looks back at Lauren, and notices that she originally flinched when the alarm went off, but is now still in her chair, almost too calm for the situation. The part of the team who are already on the main level start to work frantically to figure out what caused the alarm, just as fast as they are trying to shut it off. Tosh eventually does, and then everyone rushes the figure out the reason for the sound.

Lauren sits calmly in the office chair, knowing that she can't do anything to help, so why bother worrying? She sees Jack look at her, almost accusingly, as he rushes out of the room to start shouting orders at the others, and Lauren thinks it's time to get moving. As she walks towards the now congregated group, she tries to listen in on what they're saying.

"Well, what is it?" Jack snaps, unnecessarily, at Tosh. She types frantically for a few seconds before a live CCTV feed comes onto the screen to her right. Jack rushes over to look.

"Anything you've seen before?" Owen asks, coming up behind them. Lauren slowly walks towards to group to get a look at what's on the screen.

"Nope," Jack answers bluntly and continues to stare at the creature on the screen. As Lauren walks close enough to see what it is, the same time that Gwen does, she raises an eyebrow. The creature looks like a massive ball of fur with sharp teeth, long legs, and massive claws.

"Can you get sound?" Lauren asks, and the entire group turns to look at her.

"Normally, no, but Torchwood has added microphones to some CCTV cameras over the years. I can try to access this one, but it hasn't been used in a while. It might take a minute." She turns to Jack, almost asking permission, but not quite. It's more like she's curious about something.

"Do it," Jack says, sternly looking at Lauren. If she hadn't already had her arms folded across her chest, she would have done so. Tosh began to work quickly, hoping that the creature didn't run off before she was finished, and apparently didn't notice the look Jack had given Lauren. Owen did notice and one eyebrow shot up, but, surprisingly, he didn't say anything.

"Done," Tosh announces, after a few minutes of rapid work. Everyone walks quickly back to her from where they'd wondered off while she was typing. She presses one final key and the sound of rabid growling sounds through the Hub. Jack looks at Lauren pointedly, and everyone else looks at her curiously after seeing Jack's look. Lauren nods sharply and Jack's look gets slightly more deadly.

"It's not my fault!" Lauren exclaims defensively, noticing Jack's look. Jack then turns his look on Tosh.

"Anything in the database?" he asks a little too harshly. Ianto notices and goes to stand next to him, shoulders brushing against each other. Jack deflates slightly at once, and Lauren smiles a little, being the only one to notice the exchange. Memory of what's going to happen in the future dims her smile, and suddenly, she comes to a determined conclusion. _I'm going to find a way to save him. Maybe all of them, if I can, _she thinks with conviction.

"No," Tosh says after about thirty seconds of searching. Jack looks pointedly at Lauren again.

"It's still not my fault!" she repeats, slightly annoyed.

"We better go see what it is," Jack says with a small sigh. He then glances at Lauren again."Who's going to stay to babysit?" he asks.

"Hey!" Lauren exclaims indignantly.

"I will," Tosh says, giving Lauren a small apologetic glance. "I should stay anyway, to tell you where it goes if it moves."

"Actually," Lauren starts quickly, so that no one can talk before her, "I could just start walking towards Sarah Jane's house now. Oh, do you have any physic paper?" she finishes randomly. Jack stares her down for a moment before glancing at Ianto.

"Go get a piece of physic paper out of the store we have – the one that just dropped through the rift a while back," he commands, and Lauren can almost hear the 'please' that his 'tough guy' side won't let him say out loud. Ianto goes to get it and there's a small awkward silence in his absence that no one tries to fill.

"Got it," Ianto says, popping back into the room with a small smile. Lauren's the only one who smiles back, everyone else taking in Jack's look and becoming wary. Ianto hands the paper to Jack, who eyes Lauren for another moment before giving it to her. Lauren grins and begins to walk towards the cog door exit. She can feel everyone's eyes on her again, but she makes sure not to turn around until she gets onto the steps by the door.

"I'll be sure to come back and visit," Lauren announces, smiling. "Try not to die before I get back. I like you all too much." She smirks to herself and exits quickly. When she's above ground again, she glances around and wonders which was Sarah Jane's house actually is from Torchwood headquarters. Well, she can't go back and ask them now. Perhaps she should have thought this through a bit more…


End file.
